Your Guild’s Dual Spec Policy: What Will it Be?

So whatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s the question on everyoneÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s mind?

Will you, as a player, need two sets of specs as enforced by your raid leader?

For most players, one spec should suffice. You were brought into your current guild and asked to perform in a role. That has not changed. What has changed is the ease in which you can switch from one role to another. You can go from raiding to soloing. You can switch between PvE work to PvP relaxation.

All this stuff can be still be done right now.

ItÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s just pretty darned expensive between re-gemming, re-enchanting, and re-glyphing.

Your guild policy

I suspect it will be similar to mine. After reading about it and thinking about it, I decided the best course of action was to allow players to select whatever secondary spec they like.

Their primary spec is going to be used for raiding. Of that, I have no doubt. If they didnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t want to raid, theyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢d just let me know and hibernate for a while. The players that are still around do want to raid and thereÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s no way theyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢d jeopardize that.

IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m not doing your job for you

IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ve always told my players to select whatever talent points they needed to excel in the role they are asked to do. I donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t have the time or the interest to research every class and spec in the game and tell them what to get. That responsibility is there for them. I can provide them with resources or point them in places to look, but beyond that I am hopeless.

Now donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t get confused between asking a player to switch roles and to pick out talent points. Asking a Panzerdin to switch from tanking to a healing job is going to require him to completely switch out some specs. What I will not do is tell them how to spend each point individually. This is based on the assumption that they want to and are capable of doing it.

Some misconstrued people on Twitter get into a knot when they assume I expect and enforce people to spec a certain way. That’s not true. I expect them to pick a spec that allows them to contribute as much as they can to the raid in a manner comfortable with them. While I understand guilds that enforce specs I’ve never been one to do that unless I desperately felt that it was an ability that is absolutely essential to successfully complete an encounter. And even then, I’d ask first if they were comfortable with the idea.

What if I’m a bonafide raid healer forever? I know if I were a raiding Holy Paladin, IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢d select the standard PvE Holy loadout for one spec. But my second? IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢d grab the one that stretches down the Protection tree deep enough to grab Divine Guardian. 12 seconds where the raid takes 30% less damage is a make or break ability that can give healers the time to weather the incoming storm. I do this with the knowledge that it offers my guild a second option in the event that it’s needed. Not like I was using it for anything else anyway.

Again, this is assuming I donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t PvP or dabble in other roles.

The other guy we all love to hate

Most guilds have that one annoying player that everyone hates.

You know who IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m talking about. HeÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s the guy that knows more about your class then you do. He can play it way better than you. He has the raid achievements and the epics to prove it.

But what if you had 24 other players who knew just about as much as everyone else? Constantly asking questions, pointing out strengths, identifying weaknesses and just making people think rationally about what theyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re doing is a shift in environment that a lot of players would be unfamiliar with.

With dual specs, guildss can start expecting DPS and healers to start talking to each other more. I can see different players asking each other how they specced a certain way. Maybe theyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re asking for advice on what points to take for a second spec after deciding on a role. I know I donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t have the faintest clue on what to glyph, enchant, or augment if I were to grab shadow.

My Shadow Priests ask me once in a while what my thought process was between this talent point and that talent point (like Serendipity vs Test of Faith).

What about off spec loot?

And the question that every raid leader hates to answer but has to for the sake of their guild is how should off spec loot be handled? This is something thatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s still under discussion. ItÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s always good to hear everyone’s perspective.

But in the end, itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s up to the GM to decide on one. You canÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t please everybody. And the GM has to pick a policy that follows in line with the rest of their organization.

Now the Bank of Matticus is a large corporation that requires resources to continue functioning. It helps sponsors enchanting materials for the guild. In the future, a path is being explored where it can be used to help sponsor guild repairs.

It needs a way of generating income.

Some pointers

Main spec (role) will get a clear priority

Assuming no main spec raiders need an item, players that would like to use it for offspec can obtain it

Players that would like more than 1 item for offspec will be asked to compensate the guild accordingly. This could be in gold (like 100g), an Abyss Crystal, a stack of Infinite Dust, or half a stack of Greater Cosmic Essences.

This cap resets after one week. So a player can get a free off spec item once per week (on top of any main spec items needed)

This addition is still under debate. But I expect to have a decision rendered before this weekÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s raid.

The aim of this is to discourage players from attempting to assemble 4 or 5 sets worth of gear. IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m sorry, but no one needs that amount of equipment. ItÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s absolutely wasteful. Want a healing and Moonkin set? Absolutely, thatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s no problem. Grab a few items here and there during the weeks where no players need it. Donate a couple of hundred gold and an abyss into the bank. Augment your gear with stuff from heroics or normal level raids.

You donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t need a tanking set, a cat DPS set, a moonkin set, a PvP moonkin set, a Resto set, a dreamstate set, and so forth. ThatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s absolutely greedy and unnecessary.

Epic

About me

My name is Matticus and this is my World of Warcraft blog. Here you can read about my thoughts regarding healing as a priest. As a guild master, I also write about guild and raid related topics. The blog has expanded to include thoughts from other regular contributors. The aim of this blog is to help you grow and improve. My unending goal is to have something relevant and useful in every post. or more, you can check out my columns on WoW Insider. Visit theGuildmasters to talk shop with other GMs, raid leaders, and officers. Or if you're looking to join a guild, check out my guild Conquest.